The next morning Virgil was up early preparing himself for the days main event, Scott had got up shortly after and had been, for the last hour, watching Virgil pace the room.

"Virgil, you're going to be ok. Nothing is going to go wrong."

"I only hope you're right Scott."

"I'm not usually wrong. Hey Hazel."

"Morning boys" she smiled kissing Scott lightly "sleep well?"

"I did but I don't think Virgil did."

"How come?"

"The recital is bugging me, that's all" Virgil answered.

"Well I can't wait for the recital, you'll be great Virgil" Hazel smiled "no-one else up yet?"

"Nope, however, dad will be soon."

"What time are you going to head over to the hall?"

"This afternoon, I need to get a feel of the piano" Virgil sighed as he tapped the side of his mug.

Later in the day Hazel took Tintin shopping for a dress she could wear to the recital that evening.

"So, are you looking forward to seeing the recital?" Tintin asked joining Hazel in front of the mirror.

"Oh yes, I've heard that Virgil is excellent" Hazel replied smoothing the dress down her hips "how about this one?"

"He is. Hazel, that dress looks amazing on you, I wish I suited dark red" Tintin smiled.

"I might get this, by the way I think the previous dress suited you better, the dark blue one."

"Really?"

"Yes, it looked lovely on you. See you at the checkout" Hazel grinned and disappeared to change out of the dress.

When they got home Virgil was leaving the house, they ran up the road to meet him.

"Are you off to the hall?" Tintin asked looking at the bag Virgil was carrying.

"Yep, it's now or never."

"You'll be fine, we'll be supporting you later ok?"

"Thanks Tintin."

"Don't forget the tux" Hazel smiled.

"It's in the pod, I'll get it later, after the rehearsal."

"Good luck."

Virgil hugged the girls and went off to get the car, Hazel opened the door and went in followed by Tintin.

"Virgil's left" Alan looked up.

"We know, he just passed us" Tintin smiled and joined him on the sofa.

Hazel walked over to Scott who was sitting on the windowsill playing his guitar, he looked up and smiled.

"How's Virgil been while we've been out?"

"Very jumpy. What did you buy?" Scott asked kissing her shoulder as she snuggled up beside him.

"A new dress, I'm going to wear it for tonight's recital."

"Virgil has asked that we get there a little earlier, he'd rather the first audience members being people he knew."

Hazel laughed lightly "your brother worries too much."

"I know" Scott nodded "he's always been like that, he gets it from me."

"Well it's lunchtime, we can think about making our way to the hall after. By the way Virgil is coming back here before so he can travel with us."

"Yeah he told us, we need to get our suits, they're in the pod."

"That's fine, oh I'm so excited about tonight, I've never been to a recital, let alone a piano one."

Mid afternoon Virgil returned and left for the pod with the others leaving Tintin to get ready with Hazel, they changed into the dresses and began their makeup.

"Awwh Tintin you look adorable in that dress, I told you it suited you."

"Thanks Hazel, you too, the red looks great on you" Tintin smiled back "well, let's go and wait for the boys."

"Sure, they should be back soon."

Soon enough the others returned, they all looked very smart, Scott took Hazel in his arms and kissed her, Virgil went to the piano to warm up.

"You look beautiful Haze."

"Thank you. Should we get going?"

"Of course, we thought we might go and grab a bite to eat before the recital" Jeff said checking his watch "we have plenty of time, I'll just go and get Virgil."

"That's a great idea. Is everyone ready to go?"

Jeff nodded on behalf of the group and went to get the pianist before they left the house to go out for dinner.

At the table Virgil picked at his food nervously, Hazel noticed and rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"You'll be alright Virg, how was your rehearsal?"

"It was alright, a couple of pieces were a little bit shaky but I can't do anything about that now."

"Virg, you should eat something, it will help with the nerves" Scott said watching his brother's actions.

"We're all behind you Virgil, don't forget that" Jeff smiled across the table and Virgil returned the smile feebly. As the meal went on Virgil began to relax and joined in on the conversation, Jeff checked the time and suggested that they should get going, they parked the cars outside the hall and walked towards the door.

"We'll meet you by the stage door afterwards ok Virg?" Gordon hugged his brother for luck and turned towards the hall where Brains was walking in, Alan had run ahead to set up the live feed from the side of the stage.

"Thanks Gordy, don't be offended if I try not to spot you guys in the audience."

"We understand" Gordon winked and entered the hall, Hazel kissed Virgil on the cheek and went in with Scott.

The family took their seats and looked around at the crowd, they failed to see the Hood sitting up on the first tier in disguise, applause arose and Virgil walked onto the stage and over to the piano, he sat down at the keys and took a deep breath, Alan had sneaked back to his seat and Jeff shook his head at him before turning his head back towards the stage. Virgil closed his eyes and began the first piece, Hazel settled herself against Scott's side who wrapped his arm around her shoulder, Virgil looked up for a second and just caught Scott's eye, they weren't too far away from him, a couple of rows from the front if that. To Virgil the hall seemed too quiet considering the amount of people filling all the seats, he hadn't heard a single cough or whisper, all he could hear was the piece he was playing which at the moment was the Scriabin sonata, the most feared for that evening, to him the fluency was fractured and a little hesitant but the applause after told him the complete opposite, he looked towards Hazel who winked encouragingly, with a smile Virgil moved onto the next piece with more confidence and energy, this was the theme from Amelie, the one he had played to Hazel the day before. From her seat Hazel grinned as she recognised the theme, next to her Scott smiled too as he watched his brother relax into the music and Jeff thought about how much Lucille would've loved the performance. The pieces went by until Virgil found himself preparing the last tune of the evening, as he stood from the stool to take the applause from the previous number, his eyes flicked across the first tier resting on a strange face, he looked away but a weird feeling remained in his stomach, had he seen the man before? He sat back down at the piano and began to play his Einaudi medley he had put together, as he played the room emptied again in his mind, leaving only his thoughts and the melody, every sound was heightened, his quickened heartbeat told him something was wrong and the constant thud of the pedal accented the paranoia, from the audience Scott frowned, he leant closer to Hazel and whispered into her ear.

"Something's wrong."

"How can you tell?"

"Look at his posture, it's completely changed, he's as rigid as a statue" Scott indicated.

Virgil had changed, he couldn't see it himself but to Hazel and Scott there was a big difference. Virgil's head pounded with the two beats in the room and he found himself almost losing where he was in the music, where had he seen that face before? His foot fell off the pedal leaving an echo around the stage, thankfully at the end of the piece, and for a moment he sat frozen at the piano looking down into his lap, the family began to clap and the audience followed, Alan ran off to make sure the live feed had worked for John and the Hood made his exit to lie in wait. Virgil took a couple of bows then ran to the kitchen to calm down. The hall began to empty and the family trooped out to meet Virgil at the stage door, once there Hazel went in to look for Virgil while the others made towards the cars, this was the Hood's chance, Hazel came out followed by Virgil and he grabbed them silently, Hazel screamed for a second before her mouth was covered and she was tossed into the van with Virgil, Scott turned quickly but it was too late.

"Hazel!"

"Scott, it's too dangerous" Jeff ordered.

"Dad, whoever that is has got Virgil and Hazel, I'm going after him" Scott jumped into his car and sped off after the van.